The OnePlus 6T Will Be Sold By A US Carrier, Surprisingly Without Bloatware

The OnePlus 6T is available in T-Mobile stores starting today. Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg

OnePlus launched its latest flagship device yesterday, and while I'm certain it will be another super fast, super smooth phone with best in-class Android software, the reality is the phone didn't offer much surprise or really anything new for anyone who follows the industry. From the smaller notch to the in-display fingerprint reader, the OnePlus 6T is really just a recycled blend of recent releases by Vivo and Oppo, two Chinese companies to which OnePlus have ties.

So to me, and everyone else with a deeper understanding of the smartphone market, the real (perhaps only) newsworthy bit from yesterday's 6T launch was that OnePlus has done the unthinkable and have successfully gained official entry into the U.S. market.

I say "official" because Americans have been able to purchase OnePlus devices -- directly from OnePlus -- for years, but to truly have a presence in the U.S. and be on the radar of the mainstream American consumer, phone brands have to receive support from U.S. telecom carriers, from whom the majority of Americans buy their smartphones. OnePlus' announcement yesterday that its latest release will be sold in all T-Mobile stores across the U.S., as well as receive support on Verizon's networks, is a major coup for the Shenzhen brand, especially since the American government had seemed so eager to shut Huawei and ZTE out of the country.

Getting around the scrutinizing eyes of politicians in DC and onto T-Mobile store shelves is just part of the coup. Somehow, OnePlus has convinced T-Mobile to not fill the 6T with carrier bloatware, according to an interview OnePlus founder Pete Lau gave to The Verge. Pre-installed carrier apps that cannot be deleted are conditions U.S. carriers throw at phone brands in exchange for carrying its phones. So far, only companies with a lot of clout, like Apple and Google, have been able to sell phones on U.S. carriers such as AT&T or Verizon without these bloatware apps. Brands with less power have no choice but to take whatever carriers give them.

An official product rendering of the OnePlus 6T.Ben Sin

In my opinion, getting store shelf space inside T-Mobile stores will eventually allow OnePlus to overtake struggling "other" phone brands such as LG, Sony and HTC (basically everyone except Apple and Samsung, which have a duopoly over the U.S. market) within a couple of years, because OnePlus phones have generally been awesome, getting rave reviews every year, and more importantly,compared to what Apple, Samsung and to lesser extent Sony, LG and Google are charging, OnePlus phones are a great bargain. I mention some variation of this in every one of my OnePlus reviews, but it bears repeating: OnePlus phones are always something like 90 to 95% as good as whatever iPhone or Samsung Galaxy is out at the moment but they sell at literally half the price. The value is too good to pass up for anyone who doesn't hold brand loyalty.

For all the ups and downs of the 6T, it's pretty wild to see a OnePlus phone actually sitting on a shelf in a US carrier store. #OnePlus6T pic.twitter.com/azy0D47PUK

— Michael Fisher (@theMrMobile) October 29, 2018